Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting Held on the 19th May 2014

Birdham Parish Council

Minutes of the

Annual Meeting of the Parish Council

held on Monday 19^th May 2014

at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall

Present: Cllr Finch (Chairman), Cllr Barker, Cllr Hamilton, Cllr Churchill, Cllr Ayton, Cllr Pocock and Cllr Harker

Apologies: Cllr Cobbold (Vice Chairman) & Cllr Montyn (WSCC & CDC),

In attendance: The Clerk, Cllr Marshall (CDC) and 14 members of the public.

1-14 Election of Chairman.

It was resolved that Cllr J Finch be elected to the office of Chairman until the date of the next

Annual Meeting of the Parish Council.

2-14 Election of Vice Chairman.

This item was deferred to the next meeting of the Council on the 16^th June 2014.

3-14 Public Question time in accordance with Standing Orders 1d -1l:

A resident asked if there was some way that cyclists could be made aware the one way traffic system by St James Church also applied to them.

A resident asked where the land bequest actually was in terms of its location.

At this point in the proceedings Cllrs Churchill and Harker arrived. Both apologised for their lateness.

4-14 Declaration of Interests:

There were none.

5-14 Approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on the 22^nd April 2014:

It was resolved to adopt and sign the minutes of the 22^nd April 2014 as a true and accurate record.

6-14 Matters arising from the minutes of the 19^th November 2012:

Minute 89-12 - Land Bequest. The Clerk said he had nothing further to report at this time.

7-14 To appoint Members to outside bodies.

The list of appointments may be found at annex a. to these minutes.

8-14 Clerks’ Report:

i) WSCC – The Clerk said he had received notification that a meeting was to be held on the 9^th June in the Village Hall to bring residents of Walwyn Close, Church Lane and Cherry Lane up to date on the situation with regarding the damaged culvert and flood prevention measures. Invitations would be going out to residents.

The Clerk went to say that he had also received a letter from the Leader of WSCC outlining the direction the Council was taking to ensure that it could fulfil its requirement to deliver services to residents.

ii) CDC – The Clerk said that he had nothing to report at this time.

iii) Reports from Members of WSCC/CDC – Cllr Marshall (CDC) said the draft Local Plan had been approved by the Full Council of CDC and had now been sent for approval by the Government Inspectors.

The planning application for the traveller site at Westhampnett has now been before the Planning Committee and was given approval.

iv) Other related matters – Nothing to report.

9-14 To consider and approve Councillor Membership of the following committees and working groups.

The list of Members, Committees and working groups may be found at annex a. to these minutes.

10-14 Finance and Corporate:

i) To receive and approve the financial report.

The Clerk presented the financial reports for the months of May (shown at annex b). The current balances for April are;

Balances held at Bank	£45923.12
Designated Funds	£30070.24
Available Funds	£15852.88

Creditors	£ 2508.69

The Clerk offered to answer any questions that Councillors may have.

It was resolved to adopt the Financial Report.

ii) To receive and approve the Internal Auditors report.

The Internal Auditors report presented by the Clerk had been circulated to all Councillors who had the opportunity to raise any questions. Generally the report was a fair representation of the workings of the Council with no adverse observations.

It was resolved to approve and accept the report of the Internal Auditor.

iii) To approve and sign the External Audit report.

The Clerk presented the External Audit report to the Council and requested that permission be granted to the Chairman to sign pages 2 and 3 of the report as appropriate.

It was resolved to grant permission to the Chairman to sign pages 2 and 3 of the External Audit Report as appropriate.

11-14 To receive an update on the Neighbourhood Plan.

The Chairman said that the Steering Group had been putting the final touches to the draft Neighbourhood Plan which it was hoped would be available for consultation in early June.

She went on to say that Mr Barrington was stepping down from the Steering Group. She offered her sincere thanks and those of the Steering Group for a job which had been done extremely well.

It was planned to have an open day very shortly. Posters and leaflets would go out notifying every one of the date and time.

12-14 Planning matters including applications and CDC delegated decisions:

i) Planning Applications to be Decided

BI/14/00760/DOM - Mr James Grant Coppice Barn Church Lane Birdham

Replacement of outbuilding with new studio and games room at Coppice Barn. To extend the east by 1.3 metres from original accepted plan.

Cllr Pocock declared a personal prejudicial interest in this application and took no further part in the decision making process.

It was resolved to make no objection to this application

BI/14/01095/DOM - Gillian Asling and Michael Parker Fairlight Crooked Lane Birdham

Rear extension and loft conversion.

It was resolved to make no objection to this application

BI/14/01213/FUL - Mrs Holly Junak Houseboat Eloise Chichester Canal Birdham Chichester

Split level floating home replacing an existing houseboat.

It was resolved to make no objection to this application

It was resolved to authorise the Clerk to notify CDC of the Councils decisions where required.

ii) Delegated Decisions to be noted.

BI/13/03967/FUL Mr R Felton Harbour House 22 Greenacres Birdham

Demolition of existing house, construction of a replacement dwelling and garage and associated landscaping. PERMIT

BI/14/00408/DOM Mr And Mrs Oliver Moorings Westlands Estate Birdham

Replacement summerhouse. PERMIT

BI/14/00598/FUL Premier Marinas Former Chandlery Building Chichester Marina

Change of use of ground floor from retail (Use Class A1) and restaurant (Use Class A3) to create five self-contained two-bedroom residential units (Use Class C3). Replacement of existing flat roof with pitched roof including dormer windows to create upper levels to the existing flats. WITHDRAWN

The delegated decisions were noted.

13-14 Correspondence – Not previously circulated:

The Clerk reported that he had received a letter from the CAB of Arun and Chichester asking to be considered for a grant from the Council. After a short debate it was resolved that £100.00 be allocated.

14-14 Reports:

i) Play Area and Playing Field. – The Clerk gave an update on the situation with the car park extension and the height restriction barriers. He went on to say that he had received notification that the Play Area would be inspected by RoSPA during June 2014.

ii) Village Green and Pond – The Clerk was asked if the letter had been written to the owners of the field to the back of the pond. The Clerk said that it had not been written as he was still awaiting the proposal by Tony Burnard.

iii) Condition of Village Ditch/Drain Network. – Mr Barrington said that the work was progressing rather slower than expected although he had been making headway with Hyde concerning the ditch running from Farne Lane to the Store. Hyde had finally admitted ownership and would be sending an engineer to see what the problem was.

The Clerk said that he had been obtaining quotes to clear the ditches on the Council owned property running up Farne Lane to the A286 and north on the A286 to the boundary with Birdham Straight House.

iv) Police and Neighbourhood Watch – There was nothing to report.

v) Communication Working Groups – There was nothing to report.

vi) Other - Councillors where thankful to Mr & Mrs Haig who had tidied up the area around the bus stop at the old Bird & Ham and planted flowers. Residents also said they appreciated the work that had been done.

It was said that shrubbery from Cherry Tree Cottage was preventing clear vision of the approach of buses and high sided vehicles. The Clerk said that he would write to the residents and request that they cut back the vegetation and failing that he would contact the WSCC to see if they could help.

The Clerk also said that he had received numerous calls concerning the tree work that had been carried out at Kellys Nursery. Unfortunately by the time it had been bought to his attention the work had been carried out but, the Police had been called in to investigate under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981. However, no evidence could be found that would bring a successful prosecution. The Clerk said that he felt that this was a good example of how resident’s needed to be vigilant in order to stop further erosion of the wildlife habitat and amenity value of areas such as this within Birdham, he asked that as soon as any evidence, no matter how small, that this sort of work was going on that it be brought to his attention.

15-14 Reports of meetings attended by Councillors;

Cllr Churchill said he had attended a meeting that was slanted at re-organising the NHS he went on to say that the meeting was mainly a power point presentation that was disappointing and dull.

16-14 Items for inclusion on the next agenda: Nil

17-14 Date of Next Meeting:

16^th June 2014 at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall

There being no further business to discuss the meeting was declared closed at 8.35pm

Signed ___________________________ Dated ____________________

Chairman

Annex a.

Birdham Parish Council

28 Langdale Avenue, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8JQ

Tel : 01243 790402

Email : clerk@birdhamparishcouncil.org.uk Website : www.birdham.org.uk

Clerk to the Council : David J Siggs

Outside Body Appointments

Body	With Effect From 19^th May 2014
CDALC	Chairman Vice-Chairman
Village Hall Trust	Cllr Harker Cllr Barker Cllr Churchill Vacancy
Manhood Mobility Forum	Cllr Pocock
Peninsula Forum	Chairman Vice-Chairman Cllr Ayton Cllr Pocock

Membership of Committees/Working Groups

Committee/Group	With Effect From 19^th May 2014
Play Park & Playing Field	Cllr Churchill Cllr Harker
Staffing Committee	Cllr Cobbold Cllr Barker Cllr Churchill
Communications Working Group	Cllr Finch Cllr Barker Cllr Pocock
Planning Committee	All Councillors
Resilience/Emergency Planning	Cllr Harker Cllr Barker Cllr Pocock Cllr Marshall (CDC)

Annex b

Birdham Parish Council

Financial Statement as at 18th May 2014

Bank Accounts as at 31st March 2014

21689.56

Receipts to date

25702.61

Expenditure to date

1469.05

Balance

45923.12

Represented by;

Current Account (Barclays Community A/c)

28458.69

Deposit Account (Barclays Premium Business A/c)

10704.32

National Savings

6760.11

Total

45923.12

Less

Reserve @ 50% of Precept

21063.13

Loan Reserve for half year

8591.04

Outstanding Cheque/s -

102163

416.07

Total

30070.24

Available Funds

15852.88

Signed

Clerk to the Council

18th May 2014

Payments to be considered

B Geary (Litter Picking)

70.00

Clerks Expenses (Telephone)

52.60

A Dover (Grass/Bus Stops)

110.00

M H Kennedy & Son (Grass)

432.24

D Ayton(travel Exp)

45.90

E O'Flanagan (Internal Audit)

120.00

WSCC (Lighting Maint)

871.16

KJB Contractors (Bollards)

712.80

Instaprint (newsletter)

93.99

Total

2508.69